I think the difference between loving and tolerating your work can be boiled down to the relationship with your manager. This is my effort to get that relationship started right. Below you’ll find what I believe about work, how we should work together and what we should expect of each other.

Waking up 5 minutes before the alarm because you’re excited to go to work is one of life’s great gifts. I want you to have that gift.

A Very Brief Intro

I grew up in a Navy household where we moved to different parts of the United States every 2 years. I joined the Navy out of high school and ended up flying fighters for 11 years. It was the greatest job in the world, and still strongly influences my thoughts on how we should work together. I left the service to pursue new goals and to be present for my young and growing family (wife Katrina, a physician, and two children Caleb and Kiara). I’ve been involved in customer-facing roles with early-stage technology companies for over a decade since.

What I Believe About Work: The 3 Principles of Motivation

My beliefs about work are strongly influenced by my time in the Navy and Daniel Pink’s work on motivation (see Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us).

Autonomy: The Desire to be Self-Directed

• People thrive when they get to choose what they work on, who they get to work with, when they work, and how they get things done.
• Earn autonomy by demonstrating ownership, tenacity, and curiosity.
  • Owners take responsibility and show initiative. They optimize for the company’s goals.
  • Tenacious people don’t give up easily. Hard work will always beat natural talent.
  • Curious people ask lots of questions and assume they don’t know everything.
• For the first 3-6 months in your role, anticipate that you’ll get lots of direction from me and questions about your work. These will taper off as you gain competence, confidence, and demonstrate mastery (see below) in your work. Share your gameplans and your strategies often in this period - it will help us learn how to work together early. I strongly dislike micromanagement, so if you feel like I’m being hands on again, it’s probably because I’m not seeing the the above qualities and we need to address your work.
• Strive to operate as a Level 4 and 5 problem solver. It’ll be more fun and less stressful for both of us.

Mastery: The Urge to Get Better at Something that Matters

• Skill set mastery and growth is the path to career success. Everything follows: self-confidence, self-actualization, money, status, promotions, all of the extrinsic rewards. As Thackeray said, “Whatever you are, be a good one.”
• Consistency compounds. Mastery takes time and effort, so if 90% of life is showing up, then showing up on time, giving 100% every day, and being just a little better than yesterday will make you the best in the world.
• Feedback is the key to mastery. Avoid it at your peril.
• Early on I’ll ask you to define your professional objectives and growth areas. This information helps me be most precise in my professional feedback for you.
• Don’t fear failure - it’s the currency of success. Making mistakes and failing are signs of growth. Be honest with yourself and me about what happened and what you’ve learned. Then move on. The only real failure is making the same mistakes consistently because you’re not learning. If you’re not solving problems and encountering difficulty, your role is probably on a path to automation.
• You should feel like the challenges you face at work help you grow in your career. Being simultaneously highly skilled and highly challenged is the greatest professional feeling in the world (see Flow State).

Purpose: The Yearning to Work in the Service of Something Larger

• Purpose is that something that gets you jumping out of bed in the morning. This is our deepest source of motivation and creates meaning, belonging and resilience.